of mice and men
by Aiko-Chan SoT
Summary: the best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry...' oneshot sonicxtails brotherly


_I worked hard on this, but it could really be better. I don't know why I wrote it. It just came to me while I was reading a quote from a poem, and then I remembered that book I read freshman year. So I just typed. Coming up with this._

_It's kind of like a memoir from Sonic, telling of his and Tails' life until the end. It might be a little boring at first, but the ending is interesting. Just enjoy it. :D_

_Tell me what you think. I think it jumped alot, but eh..._

**of mice and men**

_**by aiko-chan sot**_

* * *

_"The best-laid plans of mice and men Go oft awry."  
-- __**To a Mouse** __by Robert Burns_

* * *

I held him in my arms long after he was gone, just holding him, in a way that looked as if I were still protecting him. As if I could protect him from death itself. But I couldn't. I couldn't. I was helpless when against death; I couldn't stop it. I could only watch, in deep anguish and sorrow, as it breathed its fatal breath around my world, around my very soul.

I would have offered my very soul to save him, to keep him with me. In a heartbeat. But things don't always work as we wish they would...as we hoped they would.

That's where fate comes in.

* * *

Sometimes we all wonder how the world around us would look if it was shattered.

I'm sure some people stick to the usual broken image, the distorted sense of reality that comes with it. Everything looking ugly and wrong, sick and twisted. Maybe they believe that everything loses its meaning, that the life is literally sucked from you, and you have no more reason to live.

But I think there's a different view to everything. Maybe watching the world shatter around you, falling to bits and pieces...maybe somehow, in its own sickening, twisted way, its beautiful. Colorful, even. Maybe watching the world crumble is just as amazing as it is horrible. Not to say I ever wanted to see mine shatter.

But fate has its own funny way of working out, doesn't it?

I took care of Tails since I first layed eyes on him. A small kitsune, barely two feet in height, four in age. With two tails. Scared and alone, I was his only friend, his only family after his father abandoned him. I vowed to protect him, to put his life before mine, to kill if I must to keep him safe. I would never let a thing touch him.

He was always so quiet, so thoughtful. He would constantly gaze out at something I could see and fall silent for several minutes, in which I would just watch him. He hardly moved during these times. It was amazing how still he was when he was thinking. Sometimes I would ask him what he was thinking about, but when he snapped back into reality, he'd simply smile and shake his head, claiming it was nothing. So I let it go.

After only a few weeks, I treated and loved him like my younger brother, and wondered how I ever got along without him. He was so selfless, so caring of every creature and everything. And creative. The kid could draw. I would find several new pictures at his desk everyday, and he was talented at it.

I never imagined he would grow to invent things as amazing as he did...

* * *

The house was suddenly quiet, and I looked up to the kitsune sitting at the table, looking down at his bowl of cereal in thought again. I smiled, watching him, as motionless as ever. I took a bite from my own bowl, tasting the sugar from the cereal on my tongue, and waited for him to snap back. He didn't until I spoke.

"...Tails," I said, and he jumped as if I had scared him, his head jerking up to look at me. I smiled again. "Finished your cereal." I chuckled slightly, pointing my spoon at him. "You think too much, kid." He grinned sideways at me before eating another spoonful, then looking at me in thought. I grinned, cocking my head. "What?"

Tails shook his head. "Nothing..." He looked at his feet, shuffled them a little, and then looked back up at me. "Sonic, have you ever wondered what its like to be invincible?"

After a second of silence, I chuckled quietly, slipping from the chair to the floor. "Invincible...Hmm..." I tossed my bowl into the sink, flashing a grin to Tails. "I believe everyone knows what its like to be invincible. Because everyone believes they are." Tails said nothing, simply nodded. I watched him a moment, realizing he was thinking again, and shook my head with a smile as I walked out.

* * *

Invincibility...

I think we've all had our own taste of it. We always deny that anything will happen to us, that it will happen to someone else. Just...not us. But when you get down to it, we're someone else to someone else, aren't we? What makes us any more special than them?

* * *

When Robotnik started his first attacks on our peaceful area, I was terrified for Tails. He was only six with the attacks started. I don't know what made me fight him, the only one that tried against him. Maybe it was knowing I had Tails to protect. Maybe that was always it. And in the process, I was saving everyone else. Two birds with one stone. I never really thought about why I attacked back that first time. Now its just like breathing to fight back; easy, don't really have to think about it... Heh.

When Robotnik first attacked, I demanded Tails to stay in the house. Of course, he didn't want to. As frightened as he was, he still believed he could help me somehow. But I never let him help me fight back.

I had a promise to keep, and I planned on keeping it until I took my last breath.

But we all know how promises can be broken...unexpectedly.

* * *

I couldn't believe this...

The damned robot had me clutched in its hands. One wrong movement, right instead of left, and I end up pretty much defeated. I could hear that damned scientist laughing somewhere above, and I scowled, struggling again. I wasn't really that worried...more annoyed at myself than anything.

"Give it up, Sonic!" Robotnik shouted, and I scowled again, not listening. "It's over!"

"It's not over yet!" I shouted back, but...yeah, it pretty much was. I couldn't escape. I sighed, still not remotely worried.

Then I heard a door slam behind me.

That's when the worry set in, when I turned my head to see a small, two-tailed fox standing at the door, looking incrediously at the robot that had me in its hands. My eyes widened, my heart immediately kicking into overtime, as well as my mind.

"Tails, get back in the house," I said calmly, as if nothing was wrong. The kitsune's blue eyes settled on me, and the look on his face changed to pure horror. I grinned back, my stomach churning. "I can take care of this. Just go in!" But he didn't listen to me. Too late.

"Ah, what's this?" I heard Robotnik say, still glowing in his short victory over me. "A two-tailed fox? That's quiet interesting..." I glowered upward to where Robotnik was. "Robot, take him out as well." The panic immediately leaped into my chest, and I twisted around as far as I could to shout to Tails again.

"Run, Tails!" I shouted loudly, just in time, as the robot was aiming a quick punch to the kitsune. Tails gave a start before heeding what I said, and flying into the air quickly. The punch was easily dodged, but the robot was ready again. Another punch forward. I felt my heart pounding in my ears, and I watched, helplessly, as Tails zigzagged through the air to avoid the many punches.

After a final punch, Tails flew toward me, his eyes set, narrowed in thought. As he flew toward the hand of the robot I was clutched in, he imitated something he always saw me do; my own special move I called the spindash. He curled into a ball and, Mobius knows how he done it without quills, sliced right through the hand of the robot. And I was free.

Tails caught me before I could hit the ground, and I looked up incredulously at him, the shock clear on my face. Obviously, I had underestimated the kitsune, automatically assuming that he couldn't battle a bit. And I had just been corrected. As we flew back toward the robot, I shrugged the shock away and grinned, still looking at him.

"Good job, Tails!" I said earnestly, and Tails looked down at me in surprise, then smiled back.

* * *

I never expected him to be the one who saved _me_.

The first time he leaped into the battlefield, obviously disregarding my threats to his health if he didn't get into the house, I thought he was a goner. We both were. I couldn't defeat Robotnik and keep Tails from getting hurt at the same time if he was in the midst of fire. I mean, after all, he was only 8. But the kitsune actually surprised me.

After saving me, Tails managed on his own, dodging punches again, using his tails to fly through the air, his small body and agility to twist and turn through the air to avoid them. I had my own thing going; Tails was distracting him while I could launch a surprise attack, and in the end, Robotnik was sent home packing. It was quiet a victory. And I couldn't stay mad at Tails for the help he gave me, as much as I wanted to be...

Only on that one day, when things went wrong, did I wish I had stopped him that first day...and maybe it would have never happened.

* * *

It wasn't long after that battle that Tails first starting inventing things.

The drawings on his desk grew more and more frequent, more complex. I couldn't understand half of them. Then, I noticed different random objects on his desk, from thumbtacks to bent, twisted paper clips. I was confused for awhile, wondering what he could be doing, but I really didn't ask.

The first time he came forward with his first successful invention, I was kind of skeptical. I mean, he was _9_. I was a small, kindly messily constructed metal box. It kind of looked like a remote control, something like the one to the T.V. we had lost awhile back. He looked proudly down at it as he explained it actually worked with the T.V.. I didn't really believe him. But he took me into the living room and pressed the power button, the little red button at the main top.

I was so shocked that it worked, I was speechless.

Tails kind of took offense to that, believing I thought he was too stupid to do anything, let alone build something that worked. I told him I didn't mean anything by it. After all, I didn't expect a 9 year old to build a working _remote control_. He forgave me for that one.

And after that, I never underestimated him again.

* * *

"Sonic! Hurry, you have to see this!"

I looked up from the T.V., slightly annoyed Tails had yelled at me when I was so concentrated on the program. I sighed, making no notion to get up. Instead, I slumped against the back of the couch.

"...Is it important?" I yelled back. The kitsune stuck his head out from his workshop, grinning broadly. We had built the adjoining room not too long ago, since our bedroom was becoming full of small inventions and blueprints. He stayed in there most of the time.

"Yes! Come look!" He disappeared into the room again. I got up, glancing sadly at the T.V. before running into the workshop. In a split second, I was inside it, and I looked at Tails, who smiled up at me. I looked around. There were papers lying everywhere, and several pieces of objects I didn't really recognize. Some of the inventions he had made before were lying on his desk against the wall. I looked back at him. "Well, whats up?" The kitsune walked up to a large object covered by a sheet, something I hadn't noticed when I first walked in. He smiled proudly.

"Do you know what this is?" I shook my head, confused. His smile widened. "I've spent forever working on this. And it _works_. I tested it." His pride was radiating off him, and my impatience set in. I crossed my arms, grinning.

"Well, hurry and show me! You know I don't like surprises..." Tails looked at me, grabbing the sheet in both hands.

"Sonic, I'd like you to be the first to see my very first _real_ invention." When he said this, the working remote control he made a year earlier came to mind, but I stayed quiet. "Prepare to be surprise!" And with that, he ripped the sheet away.

And I stared, speechless, at the plane before me.

It was red, and large enough to seat one. It had lower and upper wingsets, both of them light gray and stretching many feet. On the right side of the plane, _Sonic_ was written in large, uppercase, white letters. On the left, _The Tornado_ was written. The back of the plane rose upward, and just enough room was left between the seat and the back for someone to stand. Two orange tails, Tails' obvious copyright, was placed on the sides.

"This is our new plane, _The Tornado_."

I could only stare, speechlessly.

* * *

I couldn't believe Tails had built a _working biplane_.

We took a ride on it, and I stood, naturally, behind him while he piloted. Where had he learned this? Where had _I_been? I didn't recall ever seeing him study piloting. And how did he build it without me knowing? After that, the little kitsune gained alot more of my respect than before. I truly had underestimated him.

* * *

And we simply kept getting older.

* * *

"Sonic...I can't sleep..."

It was midnight, and I was lying awake in my own bed when Tails shuffled over, looking frustrated with himself. I looked over at his figure, outlined in the darkness, and blinked. I couldn't sleep either.

"Me either, kid," I mumbled. Tails shuffled over to me, and I automatically shifted over, making room for Tails as I had when he were younger, having a nightmare or frightened of thunderstorms that raged outside. He slipped into bed with me, lying down and sighing.

"Sonic..." he whispered, and I opened my closed eyes, making a questioning noise. Tails shifted. "...Tell me a story..."

And that's how the stories began.

I told him tales of what we were going to do when he was older, how we would build his own place in the mountains where he could work on inventions whenever he wanted to; how they would be beating Robotnik until they were too old to do anything; how they would always be friends, brothers, forever.

He went to sleep after that, snoring softly next to me. I smiled at him, wrapping the rest of the cover around him and proceeding to grab another from his bed. I curled up beside him and fell asleep quiet easily, dreaming of houses on mountains.

* * *

After that, Tails and I started making the way past coolest plans ever. We had everything planned out for the rest of our lives almost, and we planned on carry everyone of them out. Sometimes, late at night while we were struggling to sleep, we would tell our own tales of how we would be several years from then. And all of them always left a smile on my face.

As he grew older, the stories slowed until they finally stopped. We would fall asleep with only a simple goodnight. But we still remember them, both of us. The plans and memories of all those stories and talks lingered in our minds. We knew we would one day fullfill them all together. There was no questioning it.

But sometimes...it's funny how things turn out.

* * *

His body felt so light in my hands, as if there never had been a soul inside of it, as if it were always an empty shell, as empty as it was now. It was so silent there, as I lay in the ruins, holding his body to mine. The sky was dark, opened above me, and not a star twinkled to comfort me, to help light me on this seemingly endless and impossible journey I had to make alone.

I didn't expect the place to explode. Lost in his own craziness, Robotnik had blown it up, fully aware of what he was doing. In that last instant, when he pushed that button, he had truely defeated himself...but at the same time, he had defeated me too.

He had been closest to the blast. I tried to get to him, tried to save him, but I wasn't fast enough...I wasn't able to get there on time, to push him out of the way, to save him and sacrifice myself. The moment the blast went off, my world shattered.

How disgustingly beautiful it had been too.

All I could see were colors, all swirling and splattering together, as if an artist were painting clumsily, but beautifully all the same. It was like broken glass, catching the prisms of sun, causing rainbows all around.

And then...it was gone. Darkness was all I saw.

It didn't take me long to find him, lying broken and shattered in the midst of the ruins. I held him to me, talking to him softly, and he replied, however weakly...and he smiled at me. Even long after his breathing ceased, I talked to him, pretending I was telling him a story...Just another story...Another bedtime...

* * *

"Oh, God...Tails, no!" I breathed in disbelief, looking at the shattered form of my best friend, lying sprawled in the middle of the ruins. I ran to him, not fast enough, fell to my knees - ignoring the glass that pierced my skin in the process - and picked him up carefully, lying his head against the crook of my arm. His eyes, closed, opened slowly, and he looked up at me. I tried to ignore the feeling of blood dripping on my arm from his head, tried to ignore the large gash in his side.

He smiled at me.

"Sonic..." he whispered quietly, and I didn't breathe. Maybe, if I didn't breathe, time would stop itself, would stop for me, and let me just stay here with him, just stay with him, not let the inevitable come. Let it stay where it was. I could say nothing to him, simply pull his bangs out of his eyes. "Sonic...tell me again."

I blinked at him, not trusting my voice, but speaking anyway, against the knot in my throat. "Tell you what, buddy?"

Tails closed his eyes a moment, and reopened them, staring at me intently. "Tell me...tell me what we're going to do when I get older...When I grow up..." I couldn't do this. I couldn't do it. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, and simply stared at Tails, not trusting myself to speak again. "...Please, Sonic. I want to hear it...again..."

And so, I told him, however much my voice wavered and broke.

"When you get older, Tails," I whispered softly to him, cradling his head in my arms. "When you get older, we're going to build you a house right on top of the highest mountain in the Mystic Ruins...And we're going to make your own runway for your plane, your own workshop and garage..." My voice broke again, and I swallowed. The tears in my eyes were making it harder for me to make out his face. "...and we're going to keep kicking Robotnik's butt until we're too old to even walk." I uttered a forced laugh when he smiled again. "And we're going...we're going to be best friends forever, lil bro. Forever and ever."

Silence.

His eyes were closed, and mine were so filled with tears I could hardly see anything. I wiped them from my eyes, looking down at Tails again, to see him smiling again. I stroked his head slowly, ignoring the way the tears felt falling from my eyes and down my cheek.

"Sonic..." he breathed, and his eyes shut. I shushed him quietly, wanting so bad to shut my eyes against this terrible scene, watching him die before my eyes. I continued rubbing his head, whispering to him softly.

"...and you're going to end up being famous for you inventions. You'll help everyone with them, and pretty soon, Robotnik will give up trying to stop you. You'll be everyone's hero." I kept going, fully aware when his body stopped moving up and down beneath my fingers. His smile was gone, his eyes shut, but he looked peaceful, almost as if he were sleeping. I kept stroking his head, not fighting the tears any longer as they fell silently down my face.

I held him in my arms long after he was gone, just holding him, in a way that looked as if I were still protecting him. As if I could protect him from death itself. But I couldn't. I couldn't. I was helpless when against death; I couldn't stop it. I could only watch, in deep anguish and sorrow, as it breathed its fatal breath around my world, around my very soul.

* * *

Promises can't always be kept. Plans break, lives shattered, and heart fall apart.

It's life, and after awhile, you simply have to learn to deal with it.

Things will never go the way you want them to.

...

Go figure.


End file.
